J.J.P. Oud

Zelf vond hij dat zijn echte werk als architect pas begon met De Stijl. Daarvoor had hij echter een vrij uitgebreide loopbaan als architect in Purmerend achter de rug. Hij was in die tijd bevriend met Berlage (voor zover je met Berlage bevriend kunt zijn aldus Taverne) en beïnvloed door de Engelse Arts and Crafts beweging…

Was J.J. P. Oud a great architect? Or even an interesting one? The exhibition at the NAi and the accompanying 576-page publication J.J. P. Oud 1890-1963, A Poetic Functionalist may fail to convince one (and indeed may not themselves be convinced) of the Dutchman’s architectural genius. Instead their joint tactic is to examine Oud’s position at the very start of the De Stijl movement and his cultivation, like that of the overtly propagandist Theo van Doesburg, of important international contacts

Fünf Reihenhäuser 1926

In America Oud is perhaps best known for being lauded and adopted by the mainstream modernist movement, then summarily kicked out on stylistic grounds. As of 1932, he was considered one of the four greatest modern architects (along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier), and was prominently featured in Philip Johnson’s International Style exhibition…